Hi, this is Mike Negami, Lean Sigma Black Belt.
Last week, I made my mission statement after reading this book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People’, written by Stephen Covey.
Many of you may have read this book.
I first read it about 20 years ago, and I'm re-reading it now.
My family and I went summer camping last week.
We had been without TV or computers for 3 days and spent a lot of great time together
in nature.
I had plenty of free time, so I could read this book thoroughly.
Since I was reading the pages about mission statements and was impressed by that very
much, I would like to talk about what I learned from that book today.
First of all, this book is really deep.
It's been said that you get new discoveries as you read the book again.
I found it to be true.
Since I decided to talk about the book in my video, I was re-reading the part about
mission statements a few more times, each time, I was having new realizations.
This is a really amazing book.
What the book says is that each person has different values and showed examples like
Family Centeredness, Money Centeredness, Work Centeredness, and so on.
It also says that even though people see the exact same thing, we will have a different
perspective, and behave and react differently.
Inconveniently, it happens unconsciously most of the time.
Since we act differently, consequences will be different.
He says that if you want to have a desired result, you should have Principle Centeredness.
If you live with the Principle Centeredness, you can live your life proactively and under
your control instead of reactively or influenced by surrounding situations.
How then, can we have the value of Principle Centeredness?
Stephen Covey is suggesting that we should have our own mission statement.
To quote from the book: “We detect rather than invent our missions in life.
Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life….
Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be replaced.”
This is a very good quote.
Therefore, you can’t complete a mission statement overnight since you have to first
start with finding your mission in life.
You should write down what kind person you want to be and what you would like to accomplish
in your life.
Review, analyze and modify your draft.
Repeat this many times.
It may take several weeks or even months before you feel it is a complete.
Indeed, it’s an inner journey.
Furthermore, even when your mission statement is completed, it’s as important as the product
to review it regularly as you grow or changing circumstances.
It changes you because it forces you to think through your priorities deeply, carefully,
and to align your behavior with your beliefs.
That was what I learned.
Therefore, I wrote my mission statement at the campsite as well.
I felt like, it greatly refreshed my life.
It’s very important to have this kind of time sometimes, away from our busy daily lives.
This episode was a special edition about our own mission statement.
Thank you very much for viewing.